A long time before Moses and a long time before the Passover was instituted, Melchizedek met Abram, and the Bible tells us:
“And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.
“And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:” Genesis 14:18-19.
Melchizedek, in many ways, foreshadows the Son of God, and his real identity and being has been a mystery for centuries in the Scriptures. The Bible reveals some clue as to his identity in Hebrews 7:3 where it tells us he was:
“Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.”
Melchizedek had no earthly father. Now compare the record of his giving bread and wine to Abram just before Abram gave him his tithe in Genesis 14:18-19, with the record of the last supper in Matthew 26:26-28:
“And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.
“And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
“For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”
When Jesus brought forth the bread and the wine at the Last Supper, He was foretelling hours in advance that His body would be given and His blood would be shed on Calvary’s cross for the remission of sins. When Melchizedek brought forth the bread and wine to Abram, he was foretelling many years in advance the same great fact of salvation, for he knew the end from the beginning. And do not forget that the experience between Melchizedek and Abram was 500 years before the Passover was instituted. The bread symbolized His body as the Son of man, and the wine symbolized His blood.
Those who partake of the Passover also partake of a lamb (or substitute animal) and bitter herbs. As the Bible tells us:
“And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.” Exodus 12:8.
The only allowance that God gave for the lamb was to combine households so the entire lamb would be consumed: Exodus 12:4 "And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb."
This was the original setup. At a later date, as in the days of Josiah, they were celebrating the Passover and also using lambs, kids, small cattle (heifers, veal) bullocks, or oxen (II Chronicles 35:7-8) for burnt offerings and sin offerings. Burnt offerings were voluntary, but sin offerings were compulsory, and two turtle doves or two young pigeons could be substituted (Ezekiel 45:21-23, II Chronicles 35:13-14, 16, & Leviticus 5:7).
II Chronicles 35:7-8 "7 And Josiah gave to the people, of the flock, lambs and kids, all for the passover offerings, for all that were present, to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand bullocks: these were of the king's substance. 8 And his princes gave willingly unto the people, to the priests, and to the Levites: Hilkiah and Zechariah and Jehiel, rulers of the house of God, gave unto the priests for the passover offerings two thousand and six hundred small cattle, and thee hundred oxen."
Ezekiel 45:21-23 "21 In the first month, in the fourteenth day of the month, ye shall have the passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten. 22 And upon that day shall the prince prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bullock for a sin offering. 23 And seven days of the feast he shall prepare a burnt offering to the Lord, seven bullocks and seven rams without blemish daily the seven days; and a kid of the goats daily for a sin offering."
II Chronicles 35:13-14 "13 And they roasted the passover with fire according to the ordinance: but the other holy offerings sod they in pots, and in caldrons, and in pans, and divided them speedily among all the people. 14 And afterward they made ready for themselves, and for the priests: because the priests the sons of Aaron were busied in offering of burnt offerings and the fat until night; therefore the Levites prepared for themselves, and for the priests the sons of Aaron."
Leviticus 5:7 "7 And if he be not able to bring a lamb, then he shall bring for his trespass, which he hath committed, two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, unto the Lord; one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering."
During all the centuries of the Old Testament Dispensation, each year when the Passover was properly observed, a slain lamb was the most important object of the Passover Supper. When Jesus was crucified on Calvary’s cross, I believe this ended the celebration of the Passover and instituted the Lord’s Supper in its place. There was to be no more offering of a lamb. Jesus was the lamb. He was the Passover slain for us. He was the Lamb of God. Thus Paul wrote:
“Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us.” I Corinthians 5:7.
John the Baptist pointed Jesus out to the people, saying:
“36 And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!” John 1:36.
Jesus Christ was the Lamb of which all the Passover lambs slain in the Old Testament times were simply precursors. However, while the Passover looked back, it also looked forward. It looked back to the night when the Lord passed over the houses where the blood of a lamb had been struck upon the lintel and two side posts of the doors in that final night of slavery in Egypt. Thus God said:
“26 And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? 27 That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped.” Exodus 12:26-27.
Thus the Passover looked back to this night of Israel’s mortal salvation. It also looked forward to the coming of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.
The Lord’s Supper looks back to the day, not only of Israel’s, but of the world’s salvation when the body of the Lamb of God (symbolized by the unleavened bread) was crucified, and His blood (symbolized by the wine) was shed for the remission of the sins of the world on Calvary’s cross. And it looks forward to His coming again. Hence the Bible tells us:
“For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.” I Corinthians 11:26.
I believe that if we were to continue the observance of the Passover once a year, as it was originally instituted, it would mean that, as far as we are concerned, the Lamb of God has not yet come. The Lord’s Supper was not a continuation of the Passover. It was the final Passover, and later that same day the Lamb of God was slain on the cross, and the Passover was fulfilled.
In the Lord’s Supper we are not looking back any longer to Israel’s delivery, but to the world’s delivery through the vicarious sacrifice of Christ. Since then, any observance of the Passover should be expected to be found only among the Jews who do not believe that the Lamb of God has yet come. Thus the New Testament refers to the Passover as “a feast of the Jews.”
“And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.” John 6:4.
This was written a number of years after our Lord’s ascension, and after Pentecost, and if the Passover were to continue to be observed in the Christian Dispensation, the Apostle John would have referred to it as such.
On another point, no man who was uncircumcised could partake of the Passover. Thus the Lord said to Moses:
“And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and then let them come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof.” Exodus 12:48.
In the Christian faith it is no longer necessary for a man to be circumcised. It may be a good practice for cleanliness and health, but it is no longer a law for God’s people. The 15th chapter of Acts tells us that certain disciples were teaching new Gentile converts that they must be circumcised in order to be saved. It is obvious that the teachers must have been Jews converted to Christ. The record tells us:
“And certain men which came down from Judea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.” Acts 15:1.
Acts 15:6 tells us:
“And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter.”
The Apostle Peter declared in this meeting that the uncircumcised, converted Gentiles were receiving the Holy Spirit the same as were the circumcised, converted Jews. The meeting progressed, and finally after much prayer, the Holy Spirit revealed to them the only parts of the Mosaic laws and ordinances that were to be carried into the Christian faith, as follows:
“For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;
“That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well.” Acts 15:28-29.
Circumcision was not carried over as a law.
Therefore, we are faced with the fact that a Christian need not be circumcised, yet you must be circumcised in order to observe the Passover. It follows that the Passover is still a Jewish institution, exactly as stated by the Apostle John many years after Pentecost, and its observance has not been carried over into the Christian Dispensation.
The record in I Corinthians 11 reveals that already, while the Apostle Paul was still alive, some of the disciples were partaking often of the Lord’s Supper, with no idea whatsoever of waiting for a once a year celebration on the 14th day of Nisan.
I Corinthians 11:1-34 "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. 2 Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you. 3 But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. 4 Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head. 5 But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven. 6 For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered. 7 For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man. 8 For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man. 9 Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man. 10 For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels. 11 Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord. 12 For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God. 13 Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered? 14 Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? 15 But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering. 16 But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God. 17 Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse. 18 For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it. 19 For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you. 20 When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's supper. 21 For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken. 22 What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not. 23 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: 24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. 25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. 26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. 27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. 29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. 30 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. 31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. 33 Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another. 34 And if any man hunger, let him eat at home; that ye come not together unto condemnation. And the rest will I set in order when I come.
The Apostle Paul had given them the evidence, as recorded in I Corinthians 15:1-6 that Jesus Christ really had been resurrected from the dead. I Corinthians 15:1-6 "1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: 5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: 6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep."
Peter, James, John and the other apostles had seen Him alive, they had seen Him die, and they had seen Him alive again! This was the great fact of their time (and it is a great fact of our time and of all time). Therefore, they gathered often to come together in humility and gratitude to show their dedicated belief and recognition of the humanly inconceivable glory of Jesus Christ’s divine love as exemplified on the cross. But, being of human, sinful flesh, and previously to their conversion, having engaged in heathen orgies, they over-did their frequent occasions of fellowship and worship, and did not stop at a few small sips of wine (as at the Last Supper) to show their belief that the shedding of His blood had paid for the remission of their sins, but those of more affluence, who brought more, continued in their wine and became drunken. Thus the Apostle Paul wrote:
“When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s supper.” I Corinthians 11:20.
That is, every time a group of Christians gathers together, this does not mean that the occasion calls for the observance of the Lord’s Supper. Remember, the Christian Churches in those days were simply the various homes of the disciples used for the assembling together of the believers in Christ. So Paul wrote:
“For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, you do shew the Lord’s death till he come.” I Corinthians 11:26.
This was to impress on these converted Gentiles at Corinth that with whatever frequency they felt moved to remember Christ’s humanly inconceivable sacrifice with other Christians in the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, they must remember that sacred solemnity of the occasion: that the bread and wine are symbols of Christ’s body and blood, memorials of His death, and reminders that He is coming again. As He said at the Last Supper:
“ But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” Matthew 26:29.
This was Paul’s opportunity to tell these newly converted Gentile Christians that they should observe the Lord’s Supper only once a year at the time of the Passover, if this were to be the practice in the Gospel Dispensation. In fact, with the obvious frequency of their observance, it was incumbent upon Paul, while writing by inspiration on this subject, to tell them this: that they should partake of this solemn observance only once a year. But he simply said, in effect:
“Remember, that as often as you do partake you are commemorating the death of our Lord, Jesus Christ.”
Referring to the fact that they had their own homes, and shaming them for overindulging under the guise of celebrating the Lord’s Supper in homes that had been dedicated for Christian assemblies, Paul said:
“What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.” I Corinthians 11:22.
He called them away from their pagan materialism back to the spiritual and humble solemnity of the truth. He quoted Jesus:
“After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.” I Corinthians 11:25.
And in I Corinthians 11:26:
“For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.”
The Twentieth Century New Testament renders these verses:
“Do this, whenever you drink it, in memory of Me. For whenever you eat this bread, and drink this cup, you proclaim the Master’s death till He comes.”
This is a free translation, but a conscientious one and true to the original. The New Testament in Today’s English, put out by the American Bible Society, renders this:
“Whenever you drink it, do it in memory of Me.”
All of the evidence shows that ever since the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Passover is no longer an existent festival for Christians. Paul, declaring that he received his knowledge in a vision from Christ, makes no mention of partaking of a lamb or bitter herbs. This was a new sacrament in honor of the love and sacrifice of the Son of God.
PRAISE GOD FOR THE TRUTH!
By Elder O. R. Osman